Alexander Aksinin (1949 – 1985)  Ukrainian printmaker and painter. His sophisticated etching technique, precision and perfectionist attention to details earned him the sobriquet the “Dürer of Lviv”. Art critics hailed him as “a 20th century Piranesi” for his dramatic and elaborate constructs.

In 1972 he graduated from the Ukrainian Institute of Printing in “Graphics”, specializing in “Book Design and Illustration”. In 1972–1977 Aksinin worked a few months as art editor in Lviv Regional Department of Publishing, served one year in the Soviet army and then worked as an art designer in an industrial design office.

Since 1977 Aksinin was a freelance artist focusing on printed and drawn graphics. His early oeuvre included ink and watercolor drawings, he also photocopied and colored his black and white pictures. In 1974 he made the first etching, and since then this printing technique became the main one for him.

Since 1974, Aksinin participated in group exhibitions; in 1979 his first personal exhibition was organized in Tallinn with the assistance of artist T. Vint. In the early 1980s, poet V. Krivulin helped to arrange several Aksinin’s “kvartirnik” exhibitions in Leningrad and Moscow. The detailed information about all personal and group exhibitions is provided in the Exhibitions section of this website.

On May 3, 1985, on his way back from Tallinn, Alexander Aksinin died in a plane crash near Lviv.